Authors' Note:
Con: I like how a rock band can occasionally set aside their loud guitars and screeching voices and banging drums to produce something beautiful... Kinda like how Steve Tyler managed to produce Liv...
Darth: I think banging was instrumental in that one.
Con: *Snort* He's not a pretty man, you know...
Darth: Besides, I like Rock music.
Con: As do I, but I also enjoy beautiful music. I'm a sucker for beautiful voices and soft sounds. *Shrugs*
Darth: Meh, that music bores me.
Con: Your face bores me...
Darth: So...what does this have to do with anything?
Con: Not a thing. Just making conversation, but geez, if you really insist on talking about boobies, I suppose I can do that.
Darth: Well, are boobies involved in this chapter?
Con: Of course, boobies are involved with this whole damned story, and apparently, so is Luffy's wood.
Darth: Heh. Wood.
Con: Wood, indeed.
Darth: Indeed.
Con: ... I'm bored.
Darth: Are you?
Con: I am... Let's get on with the story, shall we?
Darth: Sure. Maybe one day I'll actually read it.
Con: *Snort*
Charmed
Chapter 10: They Bicker
The day passed uneventfully and after dinner Luffy had stripped his robe and shirt off and was laying on the bed, just resting.
Nami came into the room in her nightdress and looked over at him, but froze on the spot with a quick blink. He wasn't wearing a shirt. She had to admit, this was the first time seeing him shirtless, and what she saw was a bit shocking. His pecs came out a bit in hard muscles and the dips and ridges of his abs formed into a very nice six pack. Clearing her throat quietly, she then went over to the bed and climbed into it.
Luffy glanced over at her, and moved over to make room for her in the bed. He didn't think he'd ever get enough of that nightgown she wore. It was very clingy in all the right places, and almost transparent in others. At the very least, it showed off her body perfectly.
Sighing deeply once she was lying down in the bed, she then frowned and turned to look at him. "Waking up to you in the morning is a real pain in my ass..."
"You waking up to me is an even bigger pain in the ass," Luffy said. "But maybe we'll get lucky and wake up normal this time."
"We'll see," she muttered before turning onto her side and opening her arms up to him. "Now hurry up and come here. I'm tired."
"Sure," Luffy said as he turned around so his back was to her, and slid into her arms, till her chest was touching his back. "Night," he yawned.
"Mm," she hummed, not really answering him, but sighed, pressing more into his back as she closed her eyes for sleep.
Luffy was asleep seconds later.
xxxx
The next morning, Nami woke up with a groan and blinked her eyes open, but then she groaned again, expecting the worst. However, she blinked a few times when she saw that Luffy's back was still turned to her and everything was normal. "Huh," she said before carefully slipping away from him to go to the bathroom. However, as she was walking around, she slipped on the blanket that was hanging off the bed and onto the floor. She tried to right herself, but lost more balance, falling into the bed and right onto Luffy, who had turned onto his back when she left.
She came down hard and inelegantly, but was good otherwise. Slowly opening her eyes, however, she then gasped and her eyes widened as well as her cheeks flushing when she came face to face... very close up... to his very large morning wood, "Aaah..."
"Ack, what?" Luffy sat up in bed, looking around, disoriented. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked down at Nami, whose face was practically in his crotch. "Uh..."
Gasping and burning bright red, she held out her palms. "I slipped!" she said before running out of the door. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed, slamming the bathroom door shut.
Luffy was left, his mouth gaping, staring at the bedroom door. His mouth twitched, a grin slowly forming on his face. He knew one thing for sure. She wasn't going to be forgetting about this any time soon.
After changing back into the red leather and doing all she needed to do, she reluctantly left the bathroom with a deep and annoyed frown on her face as well as a slight blush. "Damn it..."
Luffy decided that he hadn't washed in a while, so he'd better take care of that before they left for Mariejoie. Besides, everything had been packed yesterday, and all they had to do was eat breakfast and be at the manor before the convoy left. There was plenty of time for a quick wash. He left the room, without putting his shirt or robe on. No point in doing that, if he was just going to take them off in the bathroom. He came to the bathroom door, just as Nami was leaving it.
Gasping, Nami quickly looked up at him, the blush deepened before she looked away with a deep frown and muttered, "You're disgusting."
"Says the girl who dove face-first into my lap." Luffy danced around her and into the bathroom, laughing as he closed the door. Once inside, he stripped off his pants and started giving himself a sponge bath.
"I did not dive, asshole! I slipped on the blanket!" she yelled at the door, tempted to kick it, but she had to remember it wasn't her house. So instead, she huffed and stormed over to the main room. Robin walked out of the kitchen, carrying several plates of food. When she saw Nami, she raised an eyebrow, while her small smile showed amusement.
"It's not funny!" Nami said, plopping down into a chair. "And I don't want to talk about it!" Robin said nothing, keeping her smile as she set the table.
Luffy, having finished his wash, left the bathroom. He headed back for the bedroom, but noticing that breakfast was on the table, diverted for the food instead. Looking over towards Luffy with a deep and angry frown, Nami then blinked, her face flushing at his bare chest before looking away quickly, even more upset. Robin glanced at Luffy, looking over his body as he sat in his usual spot and began eating. Not bad, a little on the skinny side, not really her type, but still not bad.
"Can't you put a shirt on first before you eat?" Nami said, glaring at him from across the table.
Luffy looked up at her and said, "But that would waste valuable eating time."
"Ugh," she scoffed in disgust before beginning to eat. "Jackass..."
After finishing breakfast, Luffy leaned back in his chair and stretched. "Ah, that was good," he patted his still rock hard stomach. "Thanks, Robin."
"You're welcome," Robin said, chuckling at his behavior.
Nami's lips pursed, though her eyes trailed down as he patted his tight and solid six pack, but then quickly looked away. "Now go get dressed so we can go, idiot..."
"Right, right." Luffy stood up from the table, and went to the bedroom to put on the rest of his clothes. Once he had done so, he cast a quick spell to make the bed, not wanting to do it on his own.
Nami snorted after he left, beginning to gather the plates to take and wash before going to get her things ready. Looking up at Robin, she asked, "May I take this with me? I'd like to keep reading it," she asked, holding up the book she had been learning incantations from.
"Of course," Robin said, "it won't do any good just lying around here. Just be careful with it. And be sure to put it out of reach next time you get angry at mage-kun."
"Ah... right," Nami said, her face flushing a bit as she put it into her bag carefully. "Thanks..."
Luffy gathered up what was left of his luggage and went into the main room. "Are we ready to go?" he asked the other two.
"Yes," Nami replied, throwing her now heavier pack over her shoulder, which pushed up her bodice, squeezing her breasts up and revealing more of her flat stomach and the soft, dipped line running from her belly button up to her valley.
Luffy was grateful that his robes covered his now renewed erection. If she was trying to drive him to distraction, she was succeeding. "I am also ready," Robin said. She had her new traveling clothes on, the corset and pants with a loose shirt covering her legs.
"Well, let's go then," Nami said, heading for the door, revealing her round and ample ass with the leather skin tight to her body as she opened the door and walked out.
Luffy and Robin followed Nami out the door, Luffy staring at Nami's ass, Robin turning around to lock the door behind her, and activating the security enchantments on her home. She didn't know when she would return to it, but she had made sure it would be well protected. The enchantments in place could only be broken by a very high level mage. Robin then took the lead, guiding them to the manor from which the Princess' convoy was leaving.
Nami sighed deeply as she walked, looking around carefully and frowning at the gaping stares she was receiving. Luffy walked behind the two women, keeping a wary eye out for trouble. There was no incident as they made their way to the location, and went to the back entrance, where they were greeted by Pell, the man who had tested them the other day.
"You're on time," he said. "That's good. Please, follow me." He led them through the room and into a courtyard, where several soldiers were assembled, and several pack animals and carriages were being loaded.
Licking her lips, feeling a bit anxious with all the body guards, she was beginning to wonder about this mission. Would they really run into that big of trouble? Luffy looked around, most of the other people were soldiers, except for one other man; a warrior by the looks of him. On his back he carried a large great sword, and at his side a total of three curved exotic looking blades. The strangest part about him was his hair, which was a faded green color.
Nami looked at all the men, one of them sticking out, mainly because of his green hair and four swords. "I guess... he's the other guy Pell was talking about," Nami whispered to the two.
"Yeah," Luffy replied and nodded. He walked over to the man and held out his hand. "Yo, my name's Luffy."
Quirking his brow, Zoro looked down at the slightly smaller and lanky man. "Hey... Roronoa Zoro," he said, but took his hand to shake anyway.
"You the other guy they hired?" Luffy asked the larger man.
"Well, I'm here, ain't I?" he said before yawning. "So early too," he mumbled, looking like he was ready to fall asleep.
"Oi, oi," Luffy laughed, "I don't think they'll like you falling asleep on the job."
"I'll be all right," Zoro muttered, rubbing the back of his head.
Pell reappeared in the courtyard, followed by Igaram, and a group of four soldiers, in a defensive formation around a young woman. "Mm?" Nami hummed, turning to look at the guards and the girl. "Eh? I guess that's her," she said to Robin quietly.
"I think so," Robin said and nodded, watching the young girl, who appeared to be about the same age as Nami.
"Eh?" Luffy said to Zoro, in a voice just a little too loud. "Is that the princess?"
"Looks like," Zoro replied, just as loudly as he stretched his arms out. "Well, let's get this party started then," he said with a smirk. "Hope we get some pretty decent action," he continued as he removed one of his sword, running a hand over it, but not touching it, and the blade shimmered for a split second with the magic that was enchanting it.
"Well, time to go it seems," Nami said with a sigh as she approached Luffy and the green haired man.
"Oh, hey, Nami, Robin," Luffy called over to them. "This is Zoro. He's the other guy they hired."
Robin nodded to the green haired man. "Swordsman-san."
Zoro's brow shot up to the beautiful women before his eyes shifted to the black haired woman, who spoke up first. "Hey..."
"Hello, I'm Nami," Nami said, giving the swordsmen a smile.
"Hey," he said before looking at Luffy. Why was he travelling with women? Weren't they trouble?
Luffy looked from Zoro to Nami. 'Strange... why isn't he being affected by her... whatever it was...?'
Yawning again, Zoro then turned towards the caravan and said, "Well, let's go. Let's do a good job together and whatever."
"Looks like swordsman-san has the opposite problem of mage-kun," Robin whispered to Nami after Zoro yawned.
"Opposite?" Nami asked, turning to blink at Robin in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"He looks like he's about to pass out," Robin chuckled.
"Oh!" Nami said with a giggle. "Maybe he's cursed too!"
"Perhaps," Robin toyed with her lips. "I wonder what it takes to keep him awake?"
"Mm?" Nami asked, a frozen smile on her lips as she blinked once. Was Robin interested in the green haired man?
Robin looked at Nami. "Eh?"
"Ah, nothing!" Nami said, shaking her head fast as she held up her palms and laughed nervously.
"Say," Luffy asked Zoro. "You don't feel inclined to act... weird... do you?"
"Act weird?" Zoro asked, lifting an inquisitive brow. "What kinda weird? What're you talkin' about?"
"Well," Luffy tried to think of how to phrase it, "you don't feel inclined to give her anything, or do anything she wants, do you?" He gestured at Nami with his head.
Zoro's brow lifted further as his head slowly lulled to the side and said, "You got something for her? I promise not to crush on her or anything... Women are troublesome..."
"No, no, no," Luffy shook his head, his voice rising. "You got it completely wrong!"
Zoro stared at Luffy for awhile, then after awhile blinked once and said, "You sure... 'cuz I lied. She's really pretty."
"Hah," Luffy laughed. "It wouldn't be worth your time. She's really mean," he muttered the last bit.
"Hmm," Zoro hummed, staring down at Luffy as if assessing him before turning his back with a yawn. He didn't want any trouble from him. "Well, whatever..."
xxxx
The first day passed uneventfully, and soon the time was approaching to set up camp. Luffy climbed down from the horse that was provided for him, as around him preparations for the evening were being made.
Looking over at Luffy, Nami became a bit thoughtful before perking and asked, "Luffy, whatever happened to your horse?"
Luffy froze, looked at the horse that he was riding, and then at Nami. "Oh..."
Nami stared down at him before finally blinking once, but then continued to stare at him and asked, "You forgot about it?"
"Yeah... I did..." He started rummaging in his robes.
"You... are an idiot. How could you forget about your horse!" she yelled, causing many heads to turn towards them. Zoro's brow lifted up again. He could see what Luffy could have meant about her being mean.
"I just misplaced him for a bit, gimme a sec," Luffy said and pulled out various items, tossing some of them on the ground, not finding the one he wanted.
Robin hadn't even known he owned a horse. It must have disappeared right after they came to the library. She noticed the tell tale signs of another argument between the two. She went over to the swordsman. "This might be interesting," she commented.
"What'a ya mean?" Zoro asked, looking up at the woman from his place up against the tree.
"They... like to bicker a lot," Robin replied and smiled at Zoro, sexily.
"Oh?" Zoro asked, his other brow rising to her beautiful smile. Did that weird feeling apply to this woman as well?
"They have a very... complicated relationship," Robin said.
"Aah, I see... Anything that has to do with a woman is complicated," Zoro said, yawning widely as a single tear bungeed from his eye in his weariness.
"Oh?" Robin said, her eyebrows rising at the green haired man's comment.
"S'right," Zoro said-that was his story, and he was sticking to it.
"Perhaps," Robin leaned closer to Zoro, "I can change your mind in that aspect?"
"Eh?" Zoro asked, peeking an eye open as he looked back up at the woman. He hadn't pegged her as the forward type.
Robin laughed softly and leaned back. "Perhaps we can talk later," she said and went to begin setting up her tent.
Zoro's brow went up further as did his interest. "Later, huh...?" He questioned quietly to himself.
"Misplaced him! Luffy... how could you-! It's an animal, you know! Living... breathing... and you forgot about him! It's been days, Luffy! What if he starved to death!" However, she hadn't given the horse any thought either, but it was still his animal.
"He'll be fine," Luffy muttered. "Ah-HAH!" He pulled out a thin rod form his robe.
"He'll be fine! What if someone picked him up, Luffy, thinking he was abandoned! You are the worst owner ever!" Nami yelled down at him, pressing her fists into her hips. Luffy placed the rod to his lips and blew into it. Nothing happened. No sound. Nothing. "What the hell is that!" Nami yelled, narrowing her eyes.
"You'll see," Luffy said as he put it back in his robe and started gathering up the items he had dropped on the ground.
"I'll see! And how long is that supposed to take!" Nami asked, crossing her arms under her bust.
"About now," Luffy said, putting the last of his items away and checking the ground for any he missed. In the distance, a speck was moving and growing closer.
Blinking a bit, Nami then just frowned deeply and asked, "About now, what!" Luffy pointed at the speck, which was growing even closer. Letting her brows go further down, Nami then looked where he'd pointed, her eyes widening and asked, "Wha-What is that?"
"That," Luffy said as the shape came close enough to be recognized as a horse, "is you owing me an apology."
"I don't owe you shit! You still forgot about him!" she said, whirling around, her braid whipping out and smacking Luffy as she stormed off, her breasts bouncing to her angry walk.
"I only forgot for a little while. He can take care of himself," Luffy followed after Nami. "Besides, this isn't the first time I've left him behind, and he's come back when I called."
"Yeah? Like the time he ran away from you when you first kidnapped me!" she yelled over her shoulder, making a few heads and brows to perk up. "Yeah... I can tell he really likes his master!"
And they were still going at it. Interesting indeed. Zoro crossed his arms behind his head and just watched, but his brow also went up to her mentioning that he'd kidnapped her.
"He's a stubborn animal, but he always comes back in the end... most of the time," Luffy insisted, "and would you mind not bringing that up?"
"Why not?" she asked, smirking at him evilly over her shoulder. "Afraid I'd make them wish they did a better background check on you?"
"A whatnow?" Luffy blinked, and then shook his head. "Do you not want to get paid or something?"
She snorted and said, "Don't worry about it. It's not like I act like someone who's been kidnapped anyways, so relax." Then she turned to the men watching them with avid interest. "What're you all lookin' at?"
They all quickly turned away, beginning to converse in random conversations about weather and recent jobs. Zoro's lips quirked up into a smirk. The woman had guts, spirit and fire. He could see what the mage had been saying.
"You got that right," Luffy muttered. He jumped a bit as his horse nudged him in the back. "Oh, there you are, boy."
Luffy pulled out a slightly wrinkled apple from his robe and held it out for his horse to eat. The animal gobbled it up in a bite, and nuzzled Luffy's face. Luffy glanced around at all the men who were suddenly doing something else. She really didn't even need whatever ability it was that gave her control over most men. She did just fine on her own. A few of them glanced back at the beautiful and fiery woman, their faces flushing slightly as they whispered amongst themselves.
Sighing, Nami went to sit down beside Robin and muttered, "He's such an idiot..."
"Well," Robin said, "the horse seems to disagree." Luffy's horse nudged him several times, while Luffy just patted his head, and finally the horse tried to take a bite out of Luffy's hair. "I think..."
Nami's brow quirked up, but then her lips twitched, finding it amusing as an unwilling giggle escaped her lips. "Maybe a little too much... Maybe he'll eat him and all my problems will go away," she said with another giggle.
Robin laughed and said, "Are you quite sure of that?"
Luffy was batting the animal's head away, while searching for another treat to feed it. The horse kept insisting, and tugging at his robe, and hair. "Damn it, calm down, you stupid animal."
Nami giggled again, just imaging the thought, perhaps enjoying that a bit too much and said, "Ooooh, I'm sure."
"We'll see," Robin giggled, watching as Luffy started running away from his horse, while digging through his pockets frantically.
Nami burst into laughter then. "Run, idiot, run! He's gaining on you! Oooh!" she said, as the horse tackled him to the ground. "Nice~! Score one for the horse!"
"No, stop it you dumb animal," Luffy tried to push it off him. "Go after her," he pointed at Nami. "She has melons!" The horse, as if it understood what he was saying, looked up at Nami.
Nami's eyes widened, and she stiffened a bit. "Luffy, you asshole! Don't sick your gay horse on me!"
Luffy stood up as his horse started stalking towards Nami. "Careful, he can understand most of what we say."
Nami scowled at Luffy before turning a dangerous glare onto the animal. "Is that right? Come any closer, and I swear I'll make a stew out of you," she said, her lips slowly curving into a nasty smirk full of warning. Even a few men watching the spectacle shuddered.
The horse stalked closer, testing the waters.
Nami stood up, taking a few steps towards the horse, tilting her chin up as her smirk widened and turned more menacing and her eyes sparkled. "I could feed everyone here with how much meat you have on you, and I happened to buy a few vegetables that taste great with horse meat."
The horse stared down at Nami, then snorted and walked away. Nami chuckled before looking at Luffy with her smirk, and sticking her tongue out at him, causing Luffy to raise an eyebrow. Then one side of Luffy's lips quirked up. The horse nuzzled Nami's back, suddenly behind her. Gasping, Nami stiffened and quickly whirled around to see the horse behind her. It had been right in front of her, even if it had walked away. How did it get behind her!
The horse snickered, its point proven. Then it walked over to Luffy, standing behind him and shivering slightly as it glanced at Nami.
Nami snorted loudly to horse and master and said, "Your horse is just as much of an idiot as you are."
"You're just a very scary woman," Luffy said and stuck his tongue out at her, reaching back to pet his horse's nose.
"Good! I'm glad you think I'm scary, asshole!" she yelled, scowling at him.
"Scary, and cruel to animals." He hugged his horse's neck, who nibbled at his ear. "Isn't that right, Merry? Stop that..."
Nami snorted loudly and asked, "Your horses name is... Merry?" Then burst into laughter. "And I am not cruel, at all. Look," she said, kneeling in front of her bag to remove a carrot. "Here, Merry. Have a carrot~!" she said, giving the horse a wink.
Luffy scoffed. "Please, as if that would—Hey, get back here!" Merry waltzed over to Nami, snatching at the carrot.
Nami pulled her hand back immediately to the snatch. "Ah, ah, ah~!" she said, holding it over her shoulder while shaking a finger at him. "No snatching. Nice and slow," she said, holding out the carrot again. A few men chuckled, finding the two's bickering to be quite amusing. At least they were unintentionally providing entertainment for the camp.
Merry nibbled at the carrot, finally taking it into his mouth. Luffy muttered and dug into his robe, pulling out a few cubes of sugar. He put his fingers to his lips and whistled. "Here boy," he said and held his hand with the sugars out. Merry turned around, saw the sugars, and started heading back to Luffy.
Nami quirked a brow before quickly ducking down and snatched out a pear. "Oooh, Merry~! I have a pear~! It's just as sweet as sugar, but you get more out of it~!" she said, waving the pear a bit. The men burst out into full blown laughter now. These two were great!
Merry stopped between the two, looking back and forth. After several moments of looking back and forth he disappeared, as well as the pear and sugar from Luffy and Nami's hands. Merry reappeared and trotted off, as if saying, "Leave me out of this."
Nami pouted and muttered, "Stupid horse..."
"Traitor," Luffy muttered at the same time.
The men were guffawing now and slapping their knees. Snorting and just barely noticing the laughter, Nami turned her glare on them. "What're you laughing at!" she yelled, causing the laughter to cease as they turned to one another, a few throats clearing.
Zoro's lips curved up on one side into a smirk. Pretty funny... He yawned then, closing his eyes to sleep. Luffy sighed. "I'm hungry," he muttered, walking over to his bag to look for something to eat.
"I'll make us something," Nami muttered with a sigh before digging around in her bag. "Set up a pit for me..."
"'Kay," Luffy said as his hand morphed into a metal shovel head, which he used to dig up a pit. Once he'd finished, he started building a fire, using his limited fire casting ability to light it. "Done," he said, looking over at Nami.
"Good, now chop these for me," she said, tossing a few potatoes over her shoulder without looking, though her aim was dead on for him as she handled other things.
Luffy's fingers sharpened with the in-curve turning into blades. He swiped at the potatoes, cutting them into little cubes, catching them with his robe. "Now what?"
"Drop 'em in here," she said, holding up a pot, still not looking up at him. The men grinned. They worked well together, even if they bickered.
"'Kay." Luffy did as she told him and sat back. "Now what?"
Robin, who had set her tent up near theirs, came over, and watched Nami and Luffy working together. Her thoughts were similar to those of the men, though hers was not a recent revelation.
"Here, chop this meat I brought... and I... will make water," she said the last part quietly, handing him the meat before standing with the pot.
Closing her eyes, she brought her index finger and middle finger to her lips, curling up the rest of her fingers. After awhile of concentrating, she uttered an incantation and held out the pot, pointing her fingers into the air. A small rain cloud appeared just where the tips of her fingers were pointing. A very puny thunder rumbled as rain poured from the cloud into the pot.
"Ah ha~!" she exclaimed with a massive and pleased grin. "It worked!"
"Neat." Luffy whistled, impressed. He tossed the meat into the air, changed his fingers to knives again, and cut the meat in the same fashion as cutting the potatoes. The chunks of meat fell into the pot.
Robin smiled. Nami was making incredible progress to be able to summon a rain cloud so soon. The men all blinked at the tiny rain cloud and then smiled at the beautiful girl's smile. It was incredibly cute. After the pot was filled enough, Nami uttered another shorter incantation before swiping her fingers to the side, and the rain cloud vanished. Beaming happily, she then put the pot over the fire to boil.
Luffy smiled at Nami. "That was amazing. You got that far so soon?" He didn't visibly react to her cuteness, but he still thought she was incredibly cute.
She grinned and snickered. "Actually, that was my first try~!"
Luffy whistled again. "Impressive," he said and glanced at the food, slowly starting to heat up.
"Mm!" she hummed gleefully with a nod, and then she began to stir up the meat and vegetables, making a stew.
Luffy squatted down by the fire pit, watching Nami cook their dinner. Sitting back, she grabbed her braid, pulling it to the front and beginning to slowly undo it. Then she combed her fingers through it, beginning to hum again. All the men blinked, turning to look at her and listen. Luffy rocked back and forth, listening to Nami's humming as well.
Robin looked up from a book she'd been reading, and watched Nami as she hummed. She looked around, seeing how most of the people were watching her. However, she looked back at Nami and frowned softly as she really paid attention. She could feel it, the power drawing into Nami. The humming?
Cracking open an eye, Zoro looked over at Nami. He could feel something strange too, and it was coming from the girl. What was with the humming? There was something eerie about it.
Nami gazed at the flickering fire, the flames reflecting in her warm, brown eyes as a small smile appeared on her lips. She didn't seem at all aware that she had an audience, nor that people were even around. She was in her own world with just her in it.
Luffy leaned back onto his hands, watching Nami. She didn't seem to be aware of what she was doing. He felt his heart constrict, just watching her was painful, deliciously so. Robin then turned to look at Luffy. The young mage's heart was showing in his eyes.
After a moment, Nami stopped a blinked in question. "Mmm?" Then she looked up at Luffy, blinking again before looking behind her to the completely silent men who were all watching her. She blinked a third time as a flushed took over her cheeks, and then she turned back to Luffy. "Why's everyone looking at me?" she asked, looking over at Robin then. "I got something on me?"
Robin shook her head. "You were humming again," Luffy said, looking straight at her.
Sucking in her breath a bit, she turned to look back at Luffy. "I was... what?"
"Humming," Luffy repeated, tilting his head slightly. "You've been doing it a few times."
"I—" she cut herself off, staring at him before looking to Robin for confirmation.
"Ee," Robin nodded, "it was a very nice tune."
Nami just gaped at Robin for a very long time. "I... but... when... I..." she stuttered, not knowing what to say.
"You have a nice voice. Don't see why that would be a problem," Luffy said and shrugged.
"W-W-W—" she stuttered as she frowned, her cheeks reddening further. "It's embarrassing," she finally said, shifting her eyes around a bit, her lips sticking out slightly in a cute purse.
She really was incredibly cute when she was in this mood. He glanced at her lips, wondering what they would taste like against his. It surprised him that she was this self-conscious, when she was normally so assertive. "Well, I could tell you when you start doing it again?" Luffy said, still staring right at her, but he straightened out his head.
Shifting her eyes to his, her cheeks flushed further as did her lips jut out a bit more, and she muttered, "F-Fine."
"'Kay," Luffy said, glancing away from her and flushing himself.
"Right..." she muttered, beginning to stir the stew again.
"Hmm," Zoro hummed to himself. So then, they did like each other... somewhat...
Yawning, Luffy flopped back onto his back, resting his hands behind his head and looked up into the sky. After the meat was cooked and the vegetables were soft, Nami said, "Grab the bowls out of my pack."
"'Kay." Luffy sat up and crawled over to the pack, pulling out three bowls from Nami's pack, and walking over to her with them.
Filling the spoon with stew, she took a bowl from him and filled it, holding it out to Robin. "Here you are, Robin."
"Thank you," Robin said, taking the bowl from Nami. She took a sip from the broth. "Mmm, it's good."
"Is it? I'm glad," Nami said with a smile before filling up another bowl. "Here," she said, handing it to Luffy.
"Thanks." Luffy drank some of the broth and fished out some pieces of meat and potato. "Mmm…"
Filling her own bowl then, she smiled wider before beginning to eat it. It had come out really good. Once Luffy had finished eating, he held out his bowl. "Seconds?"
"Yeah, yeah," she said, setting her bowl into her lap before taking his and refilling it, and then she handed it back to him. "Here..."
"Thanks," he murmured. Once he'd finished he set the bowl on the ground and leaned back, stretching.
"Mm," she hummed in response as she continued to eat. Once she was done, she took Robin's bowl, pressed her middle and index fingers to her lips before resummoning the little rain cloud to wash all the bowls.
"Convenient," Luffy said, after the bowls were cleaned.
"Yup~! I'll never be without water!" she said, swiping her fingers to the side after saying her shorter incantation and dried out the bowls before placing them back into the bag.
"I wonder if we're meant to take part in keeping watch, or if the soldiers will take care of that?" Luffy frowned, looking around, but no one was approaching them.
"Mm, she had a ton of guards watching her though. As long as we're close by in case anything happens, it should be fine," Nami said, dusting her hands together as she looked out towards the others.
"Yeah." Luffy yawned again, longer this time, his eyes watered a little after it.
"You're already tired?" she asked sounding a bit annoyed as she turned to him.
"It's getting dark," he said and shrugged, scratching his head.
"So, you automatically just get sleepy when it's dark?" she asked, lifting a brow to him.
"I still have a lot of sleep to catch up on," he said. "It's not like I can help it."
"Oi, you even argue about when the man goes to sleep?" one of the men asked, all of them beginning to chuckle.
"Just let the man sleep," another one chimed in.
"It's not like you have to go to sleep too," another said, and they all laughed.
Nami crossed her arms under her bust with a deep frown and a flush to her cheeks. "Ah-heheheh," Luffy laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Actually, I'm not that tired right now..." Maybe if they waited long enough more people would be asleep, and they wouldn't see them getting into the same tent.
"Eeh! You letting the little lady intimidate you!"
"Go on! Go to sleep!"
"Yeah, why are you letting such a little bit of a thing control you~!"
Nami began to growl, her cheeks flushing deeper.
"It's fine, really," Luffy insisted. "I can stay up a little later."
"Aah! She's got him whipped! You see that!" one yelled as he pointed at Luffy.
Huffing, Nami whirled around, turning her back to the nonsense before plopping back down onto her log.
Well, thought Luffy, at least they'll never believe her when she says I kidnapped her... even though it's true. He laughed nervously again and sat down, looking into the smoldering fire.
Nami pursed her lips, shifting her glare onto him and muttered, "Idiot..."
"What?" He turned to glare at her as well.
"Had to open your mouth!" she hissed under her breath at him
"What? I was tired," he muttered in return and pursed his lips at her.
"Ugh! But think, you idiot!" she hissed, giving the men a glance. They were still chortling and giving the two amused glances.
He leaned back and plopped onto the ground, looking up at the stars. "Whatever. It's too nice a night. I don't feel like arguing."
She snorted and said, "Yeah? Well, you're still an idiot."
"And you're still a mean lady." He yawned, looking up at the stars and mapping out constellations... or at least trying to. "Good to know everything is still normal."
"Yeah, right... Asshole," she muttered under her breath, poking at the fire with a stick. She hoped the men would all go to sleep before they had to.
"Witch," he muttered, not really caring if she heard him.
"Prick..."
Luffy held up his hand and used it to imitate a blabbering mouth.
She kicked dirt onto him.
He flicked a grass clod onto her, using his magic.
Growling, she pressed her index finger and middle finger to her lips, muttered a fast incantation before pointing her fingers over Luffy. A small rain cloud appeared, pouring water all over Luffy. However, she felt herself growing more tired. Perhaps three at once was a bit much. It was draining her slightly.
"Ack!" Luffy stood up, crawled over to her, and shook the water out of his head and robe and onto her. Much like a dog…
"Gaah!" she screamed, the men laughing once again.
"These two never stopped! It's hilarious!"
"You mutt!" she yelled before lifting a leg and shoving him away hard with her booted foot. "Get away from me!"
"Your own fault," he laughed, rolling with the kick and sitting cross-legged.
"Shut up!" she yelled while pointing at him, "You stay over there!"
"You sure that makes any difference," he said, stretching his arms.
"Don't look at me either!" she said with a huff and swiveling to the side and crossing her arms. "Or that!"
"You two act like an old married couple," Robin commented, looking up from the book she was reading by the light of a glowing crystal she had attached to the cover.
"Eeeh!" Nami exclaimed and even paled. "Are you out of your mind!"
However, the men seemed to find Robin's comment very amusing and so laughed harder. "Perhaps." Robin smiled, looking back down at her book.
Luffy paled and said, "If this is what married couples act like, then I don't see why people ever get married."
"Old married couples don't act like this! They cuddle and take long walks on the beach!" she said, though her words made her blush. "Robin's just talking crazy!"
"I dunno," one of the men said. "My grandparents were pretty goofy their last few years. Always picking on each other, playing pranks... arguing..."
Luffy looked between Nami, Robin and the man who'd spoken. "You're all crazy."
"I'm not crazy! But they definitely are! We're not like an old married couple!" Nami yelled, getting angrier and angrier, a slight thunder rumbling in the distance, though barely audible.
"My parents are getting up there... They kinda act the same," another man said. "Always actin' like they're mad at one another, picking and bickering, but they do it 'cuz they love each other..."
Nami's jaw dropped, gaping at the man before pointing at Luffy and yelled, "I hate him!"
"What she said," Luffy pointed at Nami, "only... the other way around."
"Man, my parents keep saying the same thing," another man added. "Always saying how they wished they'd never met, and so on. They're expecting their twelfth kid in three months."
"Gaah!" Nami exclaimed, standing up quickly, feeling hot with anger, though... maybe for other reasons as she whirled around to storm off. However, dark clouds were beginning to roll in, another rumble of thunder sounding.
"Ah... was it supposed to rain?"
"No, I don't think it was," Luffy said, but he was frowning after Nami.
"Perhaps you might want to calm down?" Robin suggested to Nami. "After all, emotions can affect magic sometimes." Robin turned a page on her book, glancing up at Nami over the top of it.
"Maybe I don't want to!" Nami yelled over her shoulder, just as a louder rumble of thunder sounded, this time lighting flashed through the dark clouds, but she just kept going, grumbling angrily to herself.
Luffy winced and said to Robin, "Maybe letting her learn magic isn't such a good idea."
"Mmm," Robin hummed and looked after the departing Nami.
Taking a few deep breaths to calm down as Nami walked away from the camp, the dark clouds slowly began to drift apart, and the stars and moon shone once again. "Idiots... all of them," she whispered to herself before plopping down on a log.
Luffy sighed and looked up at the stars again. The clouds were clearing, so there was a good chance Nami was calming down. "Ugh," he groaned, "such a pain."
"And you're half of it," Zoro grouched from his place with a twitching brow.
Luffy turned to look at the green haired man and frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" Zoro just snorted, not bothering to give the smaller mage an answer. He was trying to sleep, damn it! They were noisy!
Sighing deeply, Nami stared up at the stars showing once again, or what she could see through the trees. She wanted to go home... and not have to deal with him anymore. Gasping, her hand flew up to her left breast with a blink. "O-Ow... What—?"
Luffy snorted as well and looked away from Zoro. Then suddenly, he sat up, he wasn't sure why, and looked over where Nami had walked off to.
Nami blinked, still clutching over her heart in confusion. What was that? She had felt a little pain when she had thought about going home. Maybe... Maybe it was because she missed them so much. Yes, that had to be it.
"Mm...? What is it?" Zoro asked, quirking his brow at Luffy. "Something wrong?"
"I don't know..." Luffy said, still looking where Nami had walked off to. Why did it suddenly feel like he wouldn't see her again? And why did that bother him so much?
Releasing her chest, Nami cleared her throat and tried to get comfortable again. It didn't matter. After today, she would have all the money she needed.
Luffy started heading where he'd seen Nami go. Just to make sure everything was okay, he told himself.
Feeling a little tired and more drained than she'd thought, she yawned, her eyes lulling closed, though she tried to keep them open. After a moment, they closed completely.
Luffy looked around the trees, trying to find where she was. "Nami?" he called, but she was fast asleep. He finally managed to find her. "Nami?" he asked, kneeling down by her.
"Mmm," she groaned in her sleep, curling up a bit more, "L ...f ..."
He blinked. What was she trying to say? It sounded like... but that was impossible. "Nami?" he whispered.
She didn't say anymore, but she also didn't wake up either. Luffy smiled down at her sleeping form, picked her up, careful not to touch her breasts, and started walking back towards the camp. Curling into the warmth, she then whispered again, only a little clearer, "L... fy."
He looked down at her again. Was she really...? He shook his head. Nah. But then he glanced back down at her. She really was beautiful when she was peaceful like this. When he made it back to the camp Robin looked up from her book, and stared when she saw Luffy carrying Nami. She started to get up. "She's just sleeping," Luffy said before she could fully rise to her feet. Nodding, she sat back down, but a small smile touched her lips.
All the men started to chuckle and nudge each other while pointing at Luffy. "Uh huh, hate each other they said," they whispered to one another.
"I'm... just going to put her to bed," Luffy said, to no one in particular, but mostly to Robin. He climbed into the tent, carrying Nami. Once he had her inside, he set her on her blankets. Deciding to go to sleep as well, he debated how to arrange their bodies. Lying down on his back, he pulled her closer to him, so that she was partially lying on top of him, his arm loosely wrapped around her.
Nami groaned a bit in her sleep, curling up further into him, her arm wrapped around him and tightened, and then she nuzzled his chest a bit to seek better comfort. Luffy smiled down at her, before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.
When Luffy didn't come back out, the men all blinked, glancing to one another before they all looked over at Robin. Zoro even frowned a bit, sitting up a little straighter.
Instead of answering the unspoken question, Robin just smiled enigmatically and closed her book, heading for her own tent.
The men all exchanged glances once again, looking quite confused. Zoro's brow lifted up to the woman in question, watching as she disappeared into her own tent.
'Strange…'
To be Continued…
Authors' Note:
Darth: Well, that was something.
Con: Indeed it was... ~.~ Looks like she thinks about him in her sleep. ;-)
Darth: Subconscious anyone?
Con: Tee hee~! He totally ignored it though... ~,~
Darth: Did he now? I wouldn't know, haven't read it.
Con: You RPed it with me though. -_-
Darth: Yeah, months ago.
Con: Then why say, it was something! DX
Darth: Because there was definitely something in there.
Con: Right... ~.~ *Punches* Anyways, until next time, folks! XD